Topics of Conversation/Lessons Learned

• Holocaust Educator Network in Michigan
• NWP's GoingOn Social Network
• MacArthur Digital Is Work
• Rural Sites Network
• How do we share our work as a site?
  • Using a wiki for site level work and asking TCs to take responsibility for their pages
    • UPWP
    • CRWP
    • RCWP
      • WIDE PATHS
      • Project WRITE
    • TCWP
  • Using Facebook, Twitter, and other tools to stay connected
  • Technology work is an evolution, not a revolution/mind the gap
  • What kind of instruction/confidence building do we need to create for our teachers to be able to engage in these larger network spaces?
  • In digital spaces, how do we establish our work as a site? As individuals?
    • iAnthology
    • NWP Walkabout Blog
  • What does it mean to be a writing project site today?
    • Purposes of composition/technology
    • Social media makes it possible for us to all contribute to this knowledge base
    • What are the seminal texts that we have relied on in relation to teaching writing? What texts do we rely on for writing now?
    • What counts as "reading" in the summer institute -- podcasts? TED talks? Online articles?
    • How do we honor our purposes, as educators, with the purposes that our students may have? We write to discover, so why can't we just play with technology sometimes and see what happens?
    • What kinds of literature is out there? What counts as evidence?
    • Allowing time for play and exploration
    • Technology as an equalizer -- can be more text-based, or more visual -- depending on the student's interests, skills, and capabilities
    • Questions of social justice in online spaces -- yes, tech is an equalizer, but in many ways it is not for lots of different reasons (Pew Internet Reports)
    • As NWPM and in our local sites, how can we best "trickle up" ideas about technology use, rather than wait for a trickle down?
      • Traditional means: Sharing at annual meeting, writing in CFA
      • Other means: Opening up social networking spaces